Iran Sentences Two American Men In 8 Years
Two American men were arrested two years ago, and hiking along the Iraqi-Iranian border, was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges that include spying, state television reported on Saturday, a sharp blow to their hopes that his release was near.
The message seemed to send a hard-line Iranian judiciary - which answers directly to the ruling mullahs - week after Foreign Minister of the country, suggested that the trial of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal could pave the way for their freedom.
It was also likely to raise speculation about Iran using the U.S. as currency policy and could add tension to the expected visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York next month for the annual general meeting UN.
Authorities did not immediately confirm the report and gave further comment - even if it was highly controlled state media in Iran, which is often used to make high-profile ads.
A Washington spokesman reiterated the U.S. State Department, Ms. Victoria Nuland calls for their release. "It's time to reunite with their families," she said.
A spokeswoman for the relatives of the men only said that families were aware of the report and awaits confirmation.
"They want privacy during this difficult time," said Samantha Topping.
The Americans, the last court hearing was three weeks ago, denies the allegations and said they were alone walking in a quaint and largely peaceful northern Iraq, near the porous border.
They were arrested in July 2009, one third of Americans, Sarah Shourd, which was published in September 2010, of $ 500,000 bail and is back in the United States. Shourd case "is still open," state television reported irinn.ir site.
Bauer and Fattal, both 29, were sentenced to three years for each illegal entry into Iran and five years each of spying for the U.S. website quoted "sources" to the Iranian judiciary said. It is not yet clear whether it also includes time served. They have 20 days to appeal against sentence.
Their lawyer in Iran, Masoud Shafiei, said he was not informed judgments, but certainly appeal the sentence, if true.
"I have been informed of the test, my clients," Shafiei told The Associated Press. "This is a strong conflict with the Court of Human Rights."
We do not know what the maximum penalty was possible by the revolutionary court, dealing with state security. Espionage can bring the death penalty, but the sentence to a stranger is unknown legal territory in Iran.
Iran insists that the judiciary is independent of the political currents, but Iranian authorities have used the U.S. held to call attention to alleged abuses of Iranians in U.S. custody and others who were detained by U.S. security forces in Iraq. The report on the sentencing took place two days after President Barack Obama made his most direct call for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who remains among the closest allies of Iran in the Middle East.
The case, however, have raised tensions between the U.S. and Iran, already high on other issues, including Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
But Iran also recognizes the potential of gestures of good will. Release of Shourd - assisting in their presentations - came last year, Ahmadinejad was preparing the United Nations Annual Meeting of world leaders.
The Americans say they mistakenly crossed into Iran when they down a dirt road while hiking near a waterfall in the Kurdish region in Iraq. While other parts of Iraq is still plagued by violence, the semi-autonomous Kurdish north from tourists in recent years, including foreigners.
The U.S. government has launched an appeal to the two men are released and the question they have done nothing wrong. Two countries have no diplomatic relations directly, so Washington must rely on the benefits section of the Swiss embassy in Tehran to follow the case.
Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he hoped "the U.S. trial of two defendants who were arrested for the crime of illegal entry into Iran eventually leads to freedom." His lawyer also expressed the hope that it might receive forgiveness for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Shourd back to live in Oakland, California Bauer grew up in Onamia, Minnesota, and Fattal is a suburb of Philadelphia. The last family member had direct contact with Bauer and Fattal was in May 2010, when their mothers were allowed a brief visit to Tehran.
Their case more closely parallels that as a freelance journalist Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American who was convicted for espionage before being released in May 2009. Saberi was sentenced to eight years in prison, but the Court of Appeal that there is reduced to two years of probation and make him return to the U.S.
At the time, said a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, the court ordered the reduction as an expression of "Islamic compassion" because Saberi had cooperated with the authorities and expressed regret.
In May 2009, also French academician, Reiss, was released after his prison sentence of 10 years for espionage-related charges were changed.
Last year, Iran freed a businessman Iranian-American, Reza Taghavi, was detained for 29 months for alleged links to an attack in the southern city of Shiraz that killed 14 people. Taghavi denied any role in the attack.
The message seemed to send a hard-line Iranian judiciary - which answers directly to the ruling mullahs - week after Foreign Minister of the country, suggested that the trial of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal could pave the way for their freedom.
Authorities did not immediately confirm the report and gave further comment - even if it was highly controlled state media in Iran, which is often used to make high-profile ads.
A spokeswoman for the relatives of the men only said that families were aware of the report and awaits confirmation.
"They want privacy during this difficult time," said Samantha Topping.
The Americans, the last court hearing was three weeks ago, denies the allegations and said they were alone walking in a quaint and largely peaceful northern Iraq, near the porous border.
Bauer and Fattal, both 29, were sentenced to three years for each illegal entry into Iran and five years each of spying for the U.S. website quoted "sources" to the Iranian judiciary said. It is not yet clear whether it also includes time served. They have 20 days to appeal against sentence.
Their lawyer in Iran, Masoud Shafiei, said he was not informed judgments, but certainly appeal the sentence, if true.
"I have been informed of the test, my clients," Shafiei told The Associated Press. "This is a strong conflict with the Court of Human Rights."
We do not know what the maximum penalty was possible by the revolutionary court, dealing with state security. Espionage can bring the death penalty, but the sentence to a stranger is unknown legal territory in Iran.
The case, however, have raised tensions between the U.S. and Iran, already high on other issues, including Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
The Americans say they mistakenly crossed into Iran when they down a dirt road while hiking near a waterfall in the Kurdish region in Iraq. While other parts of Iraq is still plagued by violence, the semi-autonomous Kurdish north from tourists in recent years, including foreigners.
The U.S. government has launched an appeal to the two men are released and the question they have done nothing wrong. Two countries have no diplomatic relations directly, so Washington must rely on the benefits section of the Swiss embassy in Tehran to follow the case.
Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he hoped "the U.S. trial of two defendants who were arrested for the crime of illegal entry into Iran eventually leads to freedom." His lawyer also expressed the hope that it might receive forgiveness for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Their case more closely parallels that as a freelance journalist Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American who was convicted for espionage before being released in May 2009. Saberi was sentenced to eight years in prison, but the Court of Appeal that there is reduced to two years of probation and make him return to the U.S.
At the time, said a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, the court ordered the reduction as an expression of "Islamic compassion" because Saberi had cooperated with the authorities and expressed regret.
In May 2009, also French academician, Reiss, was released after his prison sentence of 10 years for espionage-related charges were changed.
Last year, Iran freed a businessman Iranian-American, Reza Taghavi, was detained for 29 months for alleged links to an attack in the southern city of Shiraz that killed 14 people. Taghavi denied any role in the attack.
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